Various remote control devices are commercially available for remote wireless user operation of different consumer electronics appliances, such as television, stereo equipment, video recorders or players, digital versatile disc players, satellite receivers, and other such products. So-called universal remote control devices are also available which operate with multiple different products (e.g., Sony television, and Panasonic DVD player, etc.) However, such conventional universal remote control devices are relatively complex to operate and configure, typically requiring tedious manual steps to program certain codes which correspond to specific products and models. Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved approach for programming or updating universal remote control devices.